


Another Dawn

by Lady_Zephyr



Series: Bleeding Hearts [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood, Gen, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:27:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23956090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Zephyr/pseuds/Lady_Zephyr
Summary: After Prompto hurts himself, Gladio breaks down and has a crisis.
Series: Bleeding Hearts [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1727062
Comments: 2
Kudos: 39





	Another Dawn

**Author's Note:**

> A long time ago, a friend really wanted to know how Ignis and Gladio would have reacted to the events in Slice. If you're out there Alice, I haven't forgotten, life just got in the way.

“Let me go.” Prompto whispers. Gladio takes hold of his arm as he tried to rush past, and holds on tightly. There’s no way he can let Prompto leave the room in this condition. Especially not with blood trailing from the hem of his pants.

“Huh-uh, you’re gonna sit down and tell us what happened.”

His eyes dart to the door before Prompto lurches forward, giving one last effort to escape. Gladio reacts quickly, wrapping his arms around the tiny man’s chest and sinking with him safely to the floor. Prompto’s eyes are unfocused, he breathes heavily and clutches weakly at Gladio’s arm before giving in to the pain. His grip loosens and his fingers slip to the ground with a light thud.

“Please…” The word floats from his lips, light and weightless, as if he’s not really sure what he’s asking for. His eyes finally close and his breathing becomes lighter. Everything in the room stops as the men take in what just happened.

“Help me Gladio, we’ve got to get his pants off so we can assess the severity of his wound.” Gladio looks up realizing that Ignis has crossed the room and is beginning to pull at the gunner’s belt.

He feels slow, like the room is filled with water. He’s trying to urge his arms to move, knows that he has to help Ignis – that it’ll be much faster if he does, but he can’t let go of the tiny man held so firmly against his chest. He can’t stop staring as the dark spot on Prompto’s pants grows larger and darker, the color bleeding into his socks.

“Gladio! I know this is shocking, but I need your assistance, help me lift his hips so we can slide off his pants.”

His attention snaps back to Ignis, the room suddenly coming into sharp, stunning clarity. “Right, sorry.”

It only takes a second for him to lower Prompto the rest of the way to the floor. He hopes the younger man will remain unconscious; it’ll be easier if they can fix whatever’s wrong before he wakes up.

Removing his pants takes longer than Gladio would have anticipated. The fabric is so wet now that they have to peel them off. The process is slow – too slow – and Gladio’s becoming alarmed at the amount of blood coating Prompto’s pants. Ignis pauses as they pull the fabric to just below his knees. There, just a few inches above the joint, toward the inside of his thigh, is a myriad of thin white lines. Above them all one mark stands out from the rest.

The cut is angry and inflamed, much more serious looking than the scars below. Thick liquid oozes sluggishly in pulsing waves, each beat of his heart causing more blood to escape from his body. Ignis dabs the cut with a handkerchief he’s produced from somewhere, but all Gladio can see is the color.

_Red_

He’s seen men bleed out on the battlefield, patched himself and his friends countless times since leaving Insomnia, but there’s something about seeing this that he can’t get over. He can’t make himself look away from a wound that he knows is self inflicted. His breathing hitches, cotton fills his ears, and it’s all he can do to keep from passing out himself.

_The hell?  
Is this why he was in the shower so long?  
This wound looks much worse than the others.  
Looks clean at least…  
Noct hand me an elixir._

Is someone talking?

Gladio looks up in time to see Noctis pass Ignis an elixir from the armiger. He cracks the glass and watches as the iridescent liquid falls over the cut. It is absorbed quickly and the skin begins to knit itself together. Soon the wound is completely gone, leaving no trace that there was ever any mark. Prompto’s breath deepens and becomes soft, all traces of pain gone from his sleeping form.

“What do we do now?” Noctis asks, his face is pale and he is shaking.

“We get him in bed,” Ignis nods to Gladio who lifts the blonde carefully, “What Prompto needs now is a good night sleep.”

They get Prompto undressed, cleaned up, and lift him onto one of the hotel beds. How he remains sleeping is a mystery, and after what they just went through no one wants to wake the blonde. Ignis returns to the kitchen to clean up and put the food away, but Gladio can’t force himself to leave Prompto’s side. 

“Finish your dinner, everyone.” Ignis instructs. He picks up Prompto’s pants and studies the bloody garment. “I’m going to throw these in the sink to soak and then I recommend we all turn in early tonight.”

Gladio sits on the bed across from Prompto, staring at the man’s sleeping face. He tells himself that he’s looking for signs of discomfort, or some indication that he might be waking up, but the truth is that Gladio just can’t bring himself to look away. Questions are forming in his mind, a thousand how’s and why’s that he’s not sure he’ll ever have an answer to. Somewhere on the other side of the room he can hear the gentle scraping of forks and knives as Ignis and Noct finish their meals. He could go over and join them, but the thought of eating sets his stomach churning. 

“ ‘M going to bed.” He grumbles, quickly unlacing his boots and rolling away from the rest of the group. He stares at the wall for a few moments before pulling the blanket close and closing his eyes.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

His dreams are filled with sound and color. All around him is fighting, recruits sparring with each other while he and the other trainers comment and watch. A particularly shrill scream echoes through the field and Gladio finds himself running toward the sound. He’s pushing combatants out of the way, swimming through a river of swords until he finally comes to a clearing. There’s a girl lying on the ground with bright red blood flowing from a gash in her chest. 

_Red_

As she coughs the color pools on her lips and trickles down the side of her face. A boy, just barely eighteen is hunched over her apologizing over and over again as medics swarm into view. They crowd Gladio’s vision, but he knows he has to see what’s happening. Grabbing the coat of the nearest doctor, he pulls them back and rushes into the circle. 

The recruit is gone and Prompto now lies in her place. Gladio is paralyzed as Noct hangs over his friend’s lifeless body. He tries to yell at the doctors, tries to tell them that Prompto is dying and needs help. They just stare back, the red, mechanical eyes of the MT’s glaring behind surgical masks- and with a jolt he finds himself staring at the ceiling of the motel.

He sits up, throwing his legs over the edge of the bed and letting his head fall into his hands. A tentative touch on his shoulder grabs his attention and he turns to Ignis propped up on one elbow, hair a mess, and glasses askew.

“Gladio, is everything all right? You’re shaking.”

“Sorry,” He murmurs, “Bad dream. I need to get some fresh air.” He rises quickly, slipping his feet into his boots and only lacing them halfway before looking back to check on Prompto. He’s almost afraid to look, the image of blood bubbling from between his lips still fresh in Gladio’s mind. He breathes a little easier when he sees Noctis at Prompto’s side. The small blonde is wrapped firmly between princely arms, his face nuzzled into Prompto’s neck. 

Ignis sits up in the bed taking a moment to fix his glasses. “If you’ll wait outside, I would love to accompany you.”

“Yeah… sure.” Gladio grunts as he heads for the door. He picks up the faint smell of cleaning solution as he leaves the room and the scent sets his stomach churning once again. The sun is just rising, the golden halo barely peeking up over the horizon this early in the morning and as Gladio turns toward the gas station market Ignis grabs his arm.

“I was thinking we might take this chance to head to the Quay. It’s not too far down the road and they have a superior selection of foods available at the market.” He heads toward the Regalia and waits for Gladio to follow before getting behind the wheel.

The trip from the Three Z’s motel to Galdin Quay is quicker than Gladio remembers. It seems like they just pulled out of the parking lot when they round the corner and the ocean comes into full view. It’s a gorgeous scene – one he’s sure Prompto would beg them to stop and capture. With a loud grunt, he closes his eyes and pushes the thought away.

“You know, Gladio, if you would like to talk about what happened last night I am more than happy to chat. I know it was a very… shocking event.” Ignis says the words carefully as they pull into the seaside parking lot. 

“I’m fine.” Gladio mumbles. “I just needed some fresh air. We didn’t have to come all the way to the ocean.”

He gets out of the car, slamming the door more forcefully than intended. From the corner of his eye he sees Ignis wince, but doesn’t say anything about it. Together they walk toward the vendor and as they reach the stairs leading up to the boardwalk, Gladio stops. Ignis passes by, ascends the few stairs and turns, cocking his head in an unasked question. 

He can’t do this. He can’t just pretend everything is all right. “You know what,” He runs a hand through his hair, brushing it back from his face, “I’m gonna go for a run to the end of the beach. “ Not waiting for Ignis’ response, he turns and takes off across the sand in a full sprint. 

It feels good to run. It’s still early enough that the wind is cool, and the sand is moist from the receding tide. He inhales deeply and feels the salt in the air as it stings the back of his throat. He runs quickly, boots slapping wet sand, digging in to give it his all in a full out sprint. Up ahead he sees a bend approaching and remembers there’s a haven just a few yards away. The group had stayed here before, just before the fall of Insomnia, and he can still hear the laughter of the group as they enjoyed their meal. 

Prompto had laughed back then, cracking jokes about Noct’s upcoming nuptials and bragging about his gun skills. Was he hurting himself back then too? The blonde wasn’t any more daring in combat than the rest of them, and no more prone to accidents, so why was he hurting himself on purpose? It was a thought Gladio didn’t want to linger on so he pushed himself to keep running.

He heard the creatures before he saw them, loud, angry beasts snapping their claws together in warning. As he ran further down the beach he saw them, a group of shieldshears alarmed and ready to defend their territory. What a perfect scene. He pulls his sword from the armiger, still barreling toward the crab monstrosities, and with a bellowing roar, he cleaves the nearest monster in half. In just a few short moments the creatures lie defeated in the sand, the waves pushing gently at their tortured bodies. With a grunt, Gladio dispatches his sword back into the armiger and falls to the sand breathing heavily. 

“That was quite the scene to witness.” Ignis calls. With long strides he weaves between the fallen monsters and comes to a stop beside Gladio. He stands there for a long while, neither one of the men saying anything, just watching the waves roll in and out. They pull at the carnage, red streaks tainting the blue-grey waves.

_Red_

“I had a dream about the crownsguard recruits. The first class I helped train.” Gladio says, finally breaking the silence. “Do you remember them?” 

“Not particularly, no.” 

“There was this girl - long, brown hair, kinda tall, muscular. Had arms that could rip a behemoth in half. She was one hell of a fighter, but had terrible stamina so we had her taking some extra training classes. There was an incident with her and another recruit. Got into a fight or something… I don’t really know what happened, but I remember being the first to arrive at the scene… there was so much blood.” 

Gladio pauses, drawing in a long, shaking breath before continuing. “I saw them in my dreams last night. Except when I got there it wasn’t that girl. It was Prompto.”

“What happened to the recruits?” Ignis keeps staring toward the ocean.

“Never saw either of them again. The girl was in the hospital for a few weeks. Almost didn’t make it. ‘Dunno what happened to the guy. Probably got kicked out of the program. I guess I didn’t really want to know. I had forgotten all about it, but seeing Prompto like that… I couldn’t take it. I felt so useless. Just like back then.”

Ignis turns to Gladio, his usually piercing green eyes now soft and gentle. “This was not your fault. Neither of these incidents were your fault, Gladiolus.”

Gladio rises to his feet, using his height to tower over Ignis.

“You don’t understand!” He jabs at Ignis' chest, bellowing loudly, “I couldn’t do anything! I couldn’t move then and I couldn’t move yesterday. I barely even heard you ask Noct for that elixir.” He stops and lets his arms drop to his sides, anger almost visibly deflating. He turns, kicks the shell of the nearest crab and exhales. His fists clench and unclench at his sides and for a moment Ignis is worried that he might try and throw himself into the ocean.

Instead he turns and walks away from the pile of broken corpses. He heads for the haven with Ignis keeping a short distance between them. Once there he sits at the edge of the safe zone, pulling his knees up tight against his chest. 

“I keep seeing her. There was this giant gash in her chest… and so much blood. So much blood. I guess it was kind of the same thing when we saw Prompto. It just kept coming and I froze.”

Ignis takes advantage of the pause to sit next to Gladio at the edge of the haven. Gladio sighs before continuing, “What happens if one of them gets hurt like that in combat? We’ve been lucky so far, but we’re not going to be lucky all the time. Someone’s going to get hurt and it’s going to be way worse than whatever Prompto did to himself.”

“I think we’ll just have to have some faith in their abilities. Noctis is just as capable in combat as you or I, and Prompto does fairly well at keeping himself out of trouble. I believe he has just been having a lapse in judgement recently. He needs just as much reassurance as you do right now.”

“Yeah, guess you’re right.”

The wind blows gently as the two sit and watch the sun rise over the Quay. Rays of golden light flash across the waves as the sky fades from pink to orange to blue. It’s the beginnings of a beautiful day, one Gladio wishes they could spend lazing around on the sand, not worrying about the dangers of the world. A sharp buzz disturbs the silence and Ignis quickly reaches for the phone in his pocket. 

“Seems Noct and Prompto are awake now. We should be heading back soon.”

Gladio grunts in agreement and rises from his spot on the edge of the haven. 

By the time they get back to the motel the sun is fully risen and bright rays of sunshine filter through the clouds. As they get closer to the hotel room, a nervous anxiety washes over Gladio. He doesn’t want to have the conversation he knows is coming, surely anything would be better than confronting his best friend about his self-harm problem. 

It has to be now. If he doesn’t do it now then he’ll never do it and the guilt would eat him alive. 

He certainly wasn’t expecting the scene before him when he walked into the motel room. Noctis and Prompto cuddled together on the couch, sharing a plate of leftovers with a nature documentary playing softly in the background. Both boys turn when they hear the door open. 

With a mouth full of food, Noct waves. Prompto flushes, eyes darting to the floor and utters a nervous, “Hey guys, how’s it goin’?”

“It’s quite the beautiful day outside. How are you doing Prompto?” Ignis asks. 

“Uh, not bad I guess.” He rises awkwardly from the couch, eyes still glued to the floor. “I’m… uh....” Fresh tears glisten in his eyes. “Iggy, Gladio, I’m sorry. For yesterday. For everything. For-”

“That’s enough, Prompto.” Ignis cuts him off before his rambling can gain steam. “We’re just glad you’re feeling better.” He nudges Gladio with his elbow, a clear sign that this is his chance to say what’s on his mind.

“Just…” Gladio pauses, choosing his words carefully. “Just let us know when you start to feel like you need to, well y’know. We’re all in this together and seeing you like that yesterday… we… I…” He exhales heavily and taking in a slow, deep breath. “I was really worried. We all were.”

“Yeah, I know that now.” Prompto says. “You guys are so strong, I thought you wouldn’t want to be bothered with my stupid problems.”

“We’ve all got problems, Prompto!” Gladio growls. The blonde recoils at the force of his words, blue eyes growing wide at Gladio’s tone. “Sorry, sorry. Really, I didn’t mean to shout.”

“You’re really bad at this.” Prompto says, a nervous smile spreading across his lips. He walks to the small table in the corner of the room where his pants are hung over the back of a chair to dry. He reaches into the pocket and retrieves the pocket knife, a speck of dried blood still visible on the hinge. “You guys should take this. Can’t use it if I don’t have it, right?” 

Gladio looks at the tiny knife resting in Prompto’s outstretched hand. It baffles him that something so small could have this kind of impact on the group. He straightens up, pulling himself to his full height and gently pushes Prompto’s hand back toward his chest. “No. You’re the only one who can carry that burden. Use it to remind yourself how far you’ve come, and if you ever feel the need to actually use it, remember this day. We’re here for you. We always will be.”

“Yeah… okay.” His hand closes around the tiny blade. With a nod he looks around to the group. “Yeah. Yeah! You’re right. You guys are the best. I couldn’t do this without you.”

“And we can’t do this without you.” Noct finishes. “So what’s the plan, Spec’s? I assume we have to be out of here soon.”

“Actually, I paid for another night before we came back to the room. I think we could use a day off after all of this excitement.” 

“Sounds like a good plan, “Gladio calls as he takes a seat next to Noctis on the couch. “Where’s the remote? There’s gotta be something better than… what is this? A documentary about ocean fish?”

“It’s relevant to my interests.” Noctis pouts.

“Whatever princess, I’m changing the channel.”

A soft giggle catches Gladio’s attention. Prompto places the knife back in his jeans and joins the group on the couch. It’s that smile that convinces Gladio that they’ll get through this. It’s been a rough journey, and he knows they haven’t even seen the worst of it yet, but he knows that as long as they have each other they can overcome everything.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back! 
> 
> Kind of...
> 
> A lot has changed since I stopped writing and I mean A LOT. I bought a house, got a new job, and started an art/crafting side business. I never really stopped thinking about writing, I just haven't had the time. But since this year is effectively cancelled (and my sewing machine is broken) I've been able to focus on writing a lot more! So expect some more stories, at least for a little while.


End file.
